Gourard and Phong shading, texturemapping, and motion blur, among other important techniques, were first explored at the University of Utah. Industry luminaries, like Ed Catmull (Pixar), John Warnock (Adobe), Jim Clark (SGI & Netscape) were all in the PhD program there.

However, their greatest contribution might be the Utah Teapot, which was originally a demonstration model that has become a ubiquitous icon in 3d computer graphics, an acheivement that won it a cameo in Toy Story.